


Breath Of Life

by YohKoBennington



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: AU, Action, Fantasy, M/M, Magical Creatures, Mention of blood, Royalty, Violence, werecreatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 06:55:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28467156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YohKoBennington/pseuds/YohKoBennington
Summary: Jared's life is turned upside-down after a despicable betrayal. Now he will have to learn to be stronger in order to get what belongs to him back. Good thing he's not alone in the fight.
Relationships: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Comments: 4
Kudos: 131
Collections: 2020 Supernatural & CWRPF Holiday Exchange





	Breath Of Life

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ashtraythief](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashtraythief/gifts).



> Written for SPN-J2- Xmas exhange challenge. This is for ashtraythief. I hope you like it TuT, sorry for the delay.
> 
> Beta'd by amypond45 ♥ Thank you darling!
> 
> Title comes from the song Breath of Life by Florence and the Machine that gave the inspiration for this universe.
> 
> It seems I keep writing things that I'll have to write more about @u@

Jared tightens the belt around his horse as he contemplates the horizon. The air is chilly today, announcing the Winter soon to come, and he wonders if his father will get to see Spring again.

It has been a few difficult months since the King fell ill. The palace doctors are doing their best to help him, and some days it seems like his father will win the battle. But others, he seems closer to death.

Because of this, Jared has taken some of the King's responsibilities on himself to lessen the burden as he recovers. Nobody had an issue of course, because they're all thinking of Jared as their King already. Jared can't blame them for that sentiment, but it makes his stomach roll to imagine a world where his father doesn't exist anymore.

“Ready, your highness?”

Jensen's voice brings him back from his brooding. Jared smiles softly at him, and nods.

“I'm ready.”

Jensen regards him silently, and cuts the short distance between them. He grabs Jared's shoulder. “It will be okay. No matter what the future brings, you'll need to remember that.”

Jared swallows the knot in his throat, and takes a deep breath. “You'll need to remind me of that.”

Jensen grins. “It will be my duty to do so,” he responds, lowering his arm. “Nothing gives me more joy than to nag you.”

Jared snorts. “Oh, I do know that.”

Jensen pads him on the back. “Alright, no more distractions. Let's get to the fun.”

Jared shakes his head amused.

What would he do without Jensen.

~*~

The Were-Leopards Kingdom of Latheria expands vastly through the Arcadian continent. It's one of the biggest ones on the planet, and many have tried to take over it in the past. Jared's great-grandfather secured the Kingdom when he formed an alliance with the Were-hawks that populated the Mystical Forest in the farthest limits of Latheria. Together they were such a great force to be reckoned with that nobody has ever tried to conquer it anymore. Through the years other alliances were formed, now including the also powerful Were-wolves tribe that occupied the territory after the Mystical Forest. They all have their own laws, and leaders, but the pact allowed both kingdoms into each other’s territory, trade for goods, and if one were to be attacked the other would come to defend it.

A group of were-hawks became part of the King's guard. Most opted to live in the forest and were provided by the Kingdom. The rest moved to the castle and adjacent buildings to protect the King and do other jobs. As a result a new blood of knights was started that has been passed down through generations. Jared refers to them as the special ninja unit. They move quietly, and you do not want to be on the other side of their wrath because you will not see another day.

Once a year, they leave the castle grounds to go to the Mystical Forest for their annual festivities. Jensen always referred to “recharging”. All Jared knows is that they commune with the forest, turn into eagles to fly the sky for two days, and have a festival that only were-eagles are allowed to be in.

Jared misses Jensen a lot during that week he's gone. Now even moreso with the situation with his father. Jensen didn't want to go, but Jared refused to let him miss something so important to him. Even if it meant that Jared would be alone to deal with everything for a few days.

Which is why Jared is currently in the main room where the King's chair sits, hiding in the small balcony where nobody is supposed to be. His father hates when Jared does that. He always worries that Jared will fall and break his neck one of these days. But it's one of those things Jared picked up when he was a kid and wanted to hide from his teachers because he got bored with the lesson of the day. Also, it's not his fault that he's picked up some tricks from his best friend, who is a trained assassin.

Today his father sits on the chair as he goes over some new requests, and signs papers. It's a good day for him; he looks more vitalized and himself. Jared had planned to go out for a ride this morning, but they had their first snow storm last night, and the air outside chills anybody's bones as soon you step out. So he's content with reading a book, and watching over his father until lunch time comes around.

“You know very well how much it scares me when you act like a Hawk,” King Gerald says out loud.

“I do. But has that stopped me yet?” Jared retorts. “Have a little faith, father. I'm not going to fall.”

King Gerald chuckles. “I hope you never change.”

“Why would I do such a thing?”

King Gerald puts the papers down, and turns to look up at Jared. “Sometimes, life makes you change. You just have to choose if it's for better or for worse. But if that were to happen, we must never forget who we were before.”

Jared smiles at him, and is about to reply when the doors open. He moves to hide when he sees it's his uncle Harry. Nothing against his father's brother, but Jared doesn't like him very much. He's always been pushy and condescending. And there's something about him that makes Jared's neck hair rise as soon as he sees him.

“Brother, what brings you this way today?” King Gerald salutes.

“I heard our King is doing much better, and I came to see it with my own eyes,” Harry answers, approaching King Gerald and hugging him. “You truly do seem to have better health.”

Jared rolls his eyes. He knows damn well, his uncle could care less.

“Thank you, brother. I might be finally turning a corner with this strange disease,” King Gerald answers, leaving the hug and turning back to his desk.

Jared pokes his head out slightly, to watch his uncle better.

He doesn't get a chance to warn his father.

The scream trying to escape his mouth gets stuck in his chest, and he sees the blood stain his father's chest. Jared’s body freezes in complete shock as his father falls to the ground.

“That's too bad,” Harry sneers, looking down at the fallen King, now gasping in pain. “The poison should've killed you months ago, but you couldn't just let go could you?” he continues, taking a cloth out to wipe the blood from his sword.

Jared is now shaking with rage, but his father looks his way, begging with his eyes to stay put. Jared obey, tears pooling in his eyes.

“As always, if you want something done, it's better to do it yourself,” Harry laments mockingly. He kneels next to Gerald's head, avoiding the pool of blood. “You forced me to do this. Now I will take what is mine.”

Jared waits until Harry is gone to climb down. He runs towards his father, kneeling when he reaches him, and trying to stop the blood flow.

“There's no use, my son,” King Gerald gasps.

“No, don't tell me that,” Jared chokes out. “Please Dad, please.”

King Gerald grasps Jared's wrist on his chest with surprising strength. “Listen to me. You have to run. He will come after you too. You're not ready to face him.”

Jared shakes his head, tears now flowing down his face.

“This Kingdom will now go through a dark age, my son. And you're the only one that can bring the light back. For that to happen, you must stay alive.”

“I can't leave you to die!”

“Jared, I'm going to die anyways. Please listen to my dying wish for my son to be the next greatest king we ever had.” King Gerald moves his hand to hold Jared's cheek gently. “I'll always believe in you. I love you.”

“I love you too, Dad,” Jared barely has the chance to say before Gerald's life slips away.

Jared cries over his dead father's body. Pain, rage and guilt blending together in every cell of his body. Jared feels like screaming. But he won't, because now his mission is to get out of the castle before. He's going to make sure to grant his father's wish.

He hears a ruckus outside, and quickly moves to hide again. Harry comes back, now flanked by two knights dressed in black. He steps over his brother's body like it's garbage and sits on the throne.

“Find the Prince, and bring me his head,” he commands.

The knights nod and kneel. “Yes, our King.”

Jared's blood boils with the desire to cut his uncle's throat right then. But his father was right. Jared might have been trained to fight, but he's not at his uncle’s level and he will lose. He takes a calming and silent breath, and with the agility of his Jaguar side, manages to remove himself from the room without his Uncle noticing.

Jared knows he doesn't have much time left before his uncle's goon finds him. He runs through secret passages that only he and his father know about, until he reaches a level of the castle where he can get out. The main entrance is already blocked by the dark knights, which leaves Jared only with the choice to backtrack again, and exit through the back of the castle by climbing out of one of the windows. The Mystical Forest is not too far if Jared goes through their own forest. He steps out onto the roof, walking carefully so as to not slip and fall. He does slip a couple of times and he hops between roofs, but is able to right himself quickly. He vaguely hears some voices behind him, and he knows they've found him now. Jared doesn't stop moving until he reaches the bottom roof and jumps off it.

There's a group of dark knights running his direction. He starts heading towards the fence, and it is almost at the edge when he feels pain on his shoulder that makes his step falter and he stops his fall with the fence itself. Jared takes a second to look at his shoulder to find an arrow piercing through it. He also sees the knights getting closer.

Putting the pain aside, he crosses the fence and races towards the forest. It's easier to lose the knights once he's there. He knows this forest like the back of his hand. But he can still hear them approaching, and he's sure the drops of blood are leaving the perfect trail to find him.

Jared stops for a second to think once he reaches the edge of a small river. He's halfway to his destination, but he has to lose those knights if he wants any chance to actually make it. Looking around for any ideas, his eyes fall on the waterfall at the beginning of the river. It will suck to get wet, and hypothermia will set in quickly if he gets under it. But he doesn't feel like has any other choice. The shouts are getting closer. Jared crosses the river to leave his footprints on the other side, and then back tracks further away and straight to the waterfall where he knows they won't see his steps unless they are searching for it. Slowly he climbs into the river, muffling a yelp at the cold water biting his legs. He takes a deep breath to brace himself and crosses the waterfall.

The prince is a shaking mess once he's on the other side, but it's worth it because the waterfall turns out to have a hollow wall of rocks, with enough space for him to hide deeper. The sound of the water is loud and it's all he can hear, but he sees the warped shadows of the knights crossing the river following his fake tracks.

Jared waits quietly until he figures they're far enough that he can run up river. It will take him longer to get to the forest, but this way he's sure to avoid his hunters faster. He treads through the snow as quick as his shivering body allows him.

It starts snowing some time later, and Jared is not shaking as much anymore. But everything is starting to melt together in his eyes, and a multiple times he stops ground himself before continuing. It gets harder to do so every passing minute, and he's aware that this is hypothermia setting in.

He won't stop moving though. He can't stop.

Jared has to make it to the Mystical Forest. Jensen is there. And everything will be better once they are together. They will make a plan to make Jared's uncle pay.

He can do it.

He has to....

Get...

There...

His knees buckle as his vision grays.

Jared doesn't get up again.

  
  


~*~

The first thing he notices is that he's very warm. That alone makes him open his eyes because his last memory is feeling like his own blood was freezing. Jared is met with a wooden ceiling, the soft glow of candle lights filling the place. He slowly sits up, taking care not to jostle his shoulder. He's never been here before, and wonders how or who brought him to this place.

Are they allies? Did he make it to the Mystical Forest?

“Oh thank the heavens, you’re awake.”

Jensen's voice brings such a relief to Jared's heart, that he can't stop the tears from flowing. Jensen is at his side right away, and his hug makes Jared cry harder.

Crying doesn't take his pain away, but allows him to breath again. “My father's dead, and I couldn't stop it.”

“I'm very sorry, my friend.”

“Harry killed him, I saw it. And it turns out that my father's illness was Harry poisoning him. How didn't I suspect he was behind it? I should have done something.”

“It's not your fault,” Jensen reassures him. “Sir Harry was born with an evil heart. Nothing, short of death, could have stopped him from taking what he wanted the most, Latheria's Kingdom.”

Jared pulls back. “We can't let him get away with it.”

Jensen nods. “Don't worry, he won't. We've already protected the forest against his goons, and are coming up with a plan together with the were-wolves tribe.”

“Wait, how do you know?”

“You've been unconscious for 14 days as you recovered from your wound and almost froze to death. A lot has happened in between. We didn't know about the murder. We actually hoped that our King had simply been imprisoned by his brother. It's terrible to hear that it was so much worse.”

Jared chokes out a sob, stopping himself from starting to cry all over. But the images of his father's bloody body invade his mind, and it's hard to numb the pain.

“Jared,” Jensen says. “This is not your fault.”

Jared shakes his head. He could have told his father how he felt about his uncle. Maybe if he knew of Jared’s distrust towards him, his father would have been more careful around him. He starts when he feels Jensen's hands on his face. He's forced to look back at him, and the warmth in those green eyes threatens to make him crumble again. His heart skips a beat, and he finds himself leaning into it.

“Feeling guilty won't bring your father back. There are things that are out of our control, and the best you can do is adapt and keep going. I need you to stop dwelling on your guilt if you want to avenge your father's death.”

Jared swallows and nods as he pulls back. His resolve becomes greater as he plays those words all over again in his mind. “When do we start?”

~*~

The were-hawk village is simply breathtaking. The houses are actually above the ground, with tree trunks as their foundation. The only buildings on the ground are the training arenas, and the communal dining hall. Jared had always wanted to visit, but out of respect he never asked Jensen to come. While they were all under the same treaty, the were-jaguar kingdom always prided themselves with letting their allies keep their autonomy. And one thing were-hawk have is that they are very private in their forest.

So for Jared to be here now, it's more than an honor. The fact that they all have protected him and have offered to teach Jared their legacy, is beyond words.

Their training is extensive and hard. But Jensen is there all the way to help him practice even after hours. He learns in between that one of the were-wolves roaming the forest was the one that found him and brought him back to the village. Jared has the chance to thank the man, as the wolves visit the village frequently as they make plans for the battle soon to ensue.

Jared finds himself feeling closer to his friend than he was before. And while the circumstances that brought him here are terrible, part of him is glad that he gets to experience this. He has always had such a high respect for the were-hawks, and as time passes by, he learns to call them family.

He's also realized his feelings towards Jensen. At some point it’s evidently clear those feelings have always been there. Jared just never put a name to it. But now that he's gotten to be with Jensen more, he can't simply ignore it anymore.

“News arrived that Harry has moved on to conquer the were-elephant kingdom,” Jensen mentions as they eat some stew sitting on the training arena.

“How are they faring?”

“They've been able to fight back, but they don't know how much longer they will be able to hold him back.”

“They won't have to wait long,” Jared affirms. Tomorrow they will attack Latheria, and take back what belongs to Jared and his people. He's ready now, and he'll make sure his uncle will wish he had never put his hands on Jared's father.

“No they won't.” Jensen grins. “I never thought I would see you itching for a battle.”

“Things are different now.”

Jensen nods and looks up to the moon in the sky.

They'll have a full moon tomorrow night, and it's the perfect day attack. Most Weres can only turn during the day. The were-wolves being the only ones that can turn at will, and were-hawks getting to turn for the whole week of their annual festivities. But for all, having a full moon means being able to fight at their full potential. The battle will be hard and bloody, as Harry has surrounded himself with other Weres that have been exiled from their own communities.

They could all die tomorrow.

“Hey Jensen,”

“Hmm?”

“Don't hate me for this.”

Jensen turns to ask what Jared is talking about, but can't say a thing with Jared's lips on him.

Jared moves back, feeling the heat all over his face. “Was that okay?” he asks at Jensen's confused face.

Jensen blinks out of his haze, and Jared has never seen him move so fast. One second they are sitting and the next Jensen is on him, kissing him back.

“What took you so long?” Jensen asks when they break apart.

Jared ogles at him, and then laughs until his stomach hurts. Jensen shuts him up by kissing him senseless.

~*~

They stand outside the fence of the castle, his uncle's army facing them. Jared's rage builds again when he sees Harry's smug face. But he calms himself, because if anything he's learned from the were-hawks is that guiding your sword with your feelings is a sure way to get yourself killed.

He looks to his side where Jensen is on his horse. Jared takes strength on the eyes looking back at him. They will win his battle, and he will make his father proud.

His future is full of love and new adventures.

Jared would be damned if he lets anyone take that away.

  
  


~*~FIN~*~

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! ♥


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